How to Safely Transport a Tortoise

There will be occasions during your tortoise's life when it is necessary for it to be transported. This could be to a new home, a visit to the vets or even holiday boarding, and we have listed a few practical tips to ensure the journey is as stress free for the tortoise as possible.

A tortoise, like all animals, can easily suffer from stress in strange surroundings and will certainly settle into its new environment much more quickly if its journey is planned with a little thought from its owner.

It is advisable to use a box that is just slightly bigger than the tortoise. Allow it enough room to be able to stretch its legs out, but not enough for it to be able to move around inside the box. If you use a strong plastic container, please ensure this is coloured or opaque as tortoises get stressed if they can see through a barrier.

Ideally, whatever you use should have a lid (with air-holes naturally) or a cover, such as an old towel or blanket to keep the inside of the box dark.

Try and allow a deep substrate within the box: not only will the tortoise feel safer if it can bury down, but the substrate will also act as a shock-absorber against bumps in the road!

The most preferred place to put this box is secured in the boot of your car, ensuring it cannot move around or shoot across the other side of the boot whenever you take a corner!

The cold, dark conditions will encourage the tortoise to go to sleep very quickly and it will continue to sleep until it arrives at its destination. When a tortoise is asleep it is unaware of how long the journey is, thus drastically reducing stress it feels.

Wherever possible, we would recommend that the tortoise is bathed and allowed to rehydrate very soon after the journey, especially if it urinated during transportation.